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by Suzanne Hailey, Davis Facilitator in Federal Way, Washington
I came into my office this morningwith my cup of coffee and picked upthe mail. I had sent an email severaldays ago requesting someinformation about a phonetic methodof reading instruction. One of our clients was receiving this type of training. The reply was now in myhand and I ripped it open, eagerlyawaiting the research, statistics anddescription of procedures andmethodology. I sat down in mycomfortable black chair and began toread about how to teach beginningreaders how to read.I noticed a comment on the brochure. It said, “Research hasshown that about 20 minutes a day,three to four times a week in phonemic awareness instruction willresult in dramatic improvement inreading and spelling skills.” Theword “skills” stood out to me. Can achild be taught the skills needed toread without gaining the ability? Myanswer is yes.All through grade school I wastaught phonemic awareness. Phonicswere the big thing in the 70’s. Boy oh boy did they work. Phonics suretaught me phonics. Yet I continued tostruggle with my reading ability. Icould phonetically decipher nearly
Vol. 28
Davis Dyslexia Association International
Issue 3 • 2002
Dys lex icRead er
´´
The
 
Thoughts Over Coffee
continued on page 4
News & Feature Articles:
Thoughts Over Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1DDAEstablished for Australia-NewZealand Territories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 A Word A Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Summer Learning is Fun! . . . . . . . . . . . .7Slowly but Surely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9The Differences Between the English andHebrew Alphabets . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Regular Features:
Viewpoints on Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . .2Humor Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Q & A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 7Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10, 11New Facilitators & Specialists . . . . . . .13Davis Providers (U.S. & Canada) . .14-15
In This Issue
On March 1, 2002, DDA-Australia came into being. ItsDirectors are Catherine Churton, anative of New Zealand and a DavisFacilitator, and Milt Barlow, anAussie with an extensive business background in the entertainmentindustries. They were motivated to become DDA-Australia byCatherine’s success as a Facilitator,the need for professional trainingdown under, and their passion abouthelping further the goals of DDAI.“I have been licensed as a DavisFacilitator since December 2000,and in that time I have had thehonour to work with many studentsranging in ages from 8 to 58. It wasthrough myown child’sdifficulties that Idiscovered
TheGift of Dyslexia
, by Ron Davis,” saysCatherine Churton. “My son had participated in many differentmethods, none having the lifechanging effect that the Davismethods produced. Using the Davismethods I am able to give eachstudent the ability and opportunity tolearn successfully and confidently,gaining a higher sense of self-esteemin the process.”
Davis Dyslexia AssociationEstablished fo Australia-Ne Zealand Territories
continued on page 13
 
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Trusting Your Child
by Alice. J. Pratt, Facilitator,  Jacksonville, Florida
As Facilitators, we are taught, andsoon learn, the wisdom of thisinstruction: Trust the client! Theclient will know what they need todo. This is because they arecompetent and capable. They justneed to be given the opportunity tolearn the way they think. Our trainingis to get out of the way and watch inwonder as they take off!If you bring your child to the program with trust that she/he will dowhat is needed to be successful, youhave just given yourself a gift. Your child will then have the freedom tochoose. Once they begin the work  based on their own free choice, theywill soar like eagles on the wind.Once when working with a childwho had been forced and threatenedand given few choices in life, Iencountered much resistance on thefirst day of the program. The nextmorning she arrived frowning,avoiding getting started in our work.I went to the work area and satquietly working on forms as she played in the waiting area. Fifteenminutes later she came in the officeand began to play with clay. Icontinued to do my work. She wouldlook up and smile periodically. After five minutes, she looked up and said,with feeling, "What are we doingnext?" The whole rest of the program sheembraced our work with an openheart. Having arrived on Mondayreading three levels below her grade,she left on Friday one grade levelahead.Here is what I believe happened. Icould have chosen one of severalapproaches when I encountered her resistance: forcing, threatening,convincing, promising rewards. WhatI did instead was to release the needto control the situation. I knew for the program to be trulyeffective, she needed to freely chooseto do it. Rather than just tell her itwas her choice, I had to feel insidemyself that it was. I showed that Itrusted her. I knew that if she had thefreedom to choose the program onher own that she would. That kind of total acceptance and trust in the childallowed her the freedom andopportunity to make the choice totake responsibility for her ownlearning. Though beginning the program asa dependent, anxious child, shecompleted it as a changed, competentlearner.
The Dyslexic Reader 
is published quarterly by Davis Dyslexia Association International (DDAI), 1601 Bayshore Hwy., Suite 245,Burlingame, CA 94010 USA +1(650) 692-7141.
OURGOALS
are to increase worldwide awareness about the positive aspects of dyslexiaand related learning styles; and to present methods for improving literacy, education and academic success. We believe that all people’sabilities and talents should be recognized and valued, and that learning problems can be corrected.
EDITORIALBOARD:
 Alice Davis, Abigail Marshall, Michele Plevin, Maria Fagioli and Dee White.
DESIGN:
Julia Gaskill.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
one year $25 in US, add $5 inCanada; add $10 elsewhere.
BACKISSUES:
send $8.00 to DDAI.
SUBMISSIONSANDLETTERS:
We welcome letters, comments andarticles. Mail to DDAI at the above address.
VIAFAX:
+1(650) 692-7075
VIAE-MAIL:
editor@dyslexia.com
INTERNET:
http://www.dyslexia.com/The opinions and views expressed in articles and letters are not necessarily those of DDAI. Davis Dyslexia Correction
®
, Davis SymbolMastery
®
, Davis Orientation Counseling
®
, and Davis Learning Strategies
®
are registered trademarks of Ronald D. Davis. Copyright © 1999by DDAI, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Cartoonist, John Baumann, is a 16 year old high school student who recently completed the Davis Program at Reading Research Council in California.
Viewpoints on Motivation
Stories from Clients, Teachers, Parents and Facilitators
"In years to come achild may forgetwhat you taughtthem, but willalways rememberhow you madethem feel." -
Unknown
 
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by Jerilynn Carter 
Editor’s Note: Many homeschooling parents have found the OrientationCounseling and Symbol Mastery procedures in
The Gift of Dyslexia
helpful for their children. Following is aletter written from one home schoolingmother to another, sharing her experiences and some excellentsuggestions.I’m also a home schooling Mom withtwo dyslexic kids, a boy age 10 and agirl, age 13. My son has more problemswith reading (not to mention spelling), but my daughter is a relatively goodreader but nowhere near her older sister’sability (age 14). Her most difficultsubjects are spelling and reading music,with math running a close second. (Weuse Math-U-See for math which I love. Itteaches everything manipulatively and Ifeel it has saved both of these kids in themath area.)We began the Davis program inFebruary, 2001. The OrientationCounseling is wonderful. Both kids lovedit. It has especially helped my son tohave that tool to help him when he getsconfused. We’ve been doing the SymbolMastery and I’m finally beginning to seesome progress in his reading. Somewords we’ve done still seem to trigger him so I’m going to try doing additionaldefinitions on those words.When we first began, it seemed totake a lot of my time. But I wasdetermined to do it with them. We endedup doing just one word a day. It seemedthat doing more became confusing not tomention overwhelming. It was fun to do the clay for mydaughter—she is very creative—but for my son it still seemed to be work. Heseemed willing but I sensed somereluctance. That may be why some of theclay words may not have “stuck.”Starting fresh after the summer break has been helpful. I talked things through with himmaking sure he understood that this waslike a golden key to unlock the door toeasier reading. His desire to want to readhas increased, probably also because hisyounger brother has now passed him upand he sees how much enjoyment it brings to him to read.At first I did the clay words withthem. I feel this was essential—for me to be right there with them doing it, too.But now I’ll write the next word on our white board in the kitchen with thedefinition (so I can remember it!) and wediscuss it and make up sentences duringlunch. Then after lunch we have a quiettime for individual reading and duringthat time, they work on their clay picturewithout me. This saves lots of time andstill accomplishes a word a day. I take adigital picture of their words and theyalso draw the picture on a 3x5 card andkeep it in a file binder. This works wellnow that they “have the hang of it.”By the way, my oldest daughter doesthe words too, even though she seems to be a good reader. I think she could be amuch better reader with this program.Her comprehension is not what it should be depending on the level of difficulty.I’ve also worked with her with musicusing the clay to build the staff and noteheads, etc. So far, it has really helped.Anyway, I hope you have success.One thing I did to prepare myself to dothe Orientation Counseling was to writeit all out in a notebook in such a way thatI could glance at it if I needed guidanceand it helped me learn it better. I also purchased the Symbol Mastery Kit whichI found helpful. Good luck!
 t
A Word A Day
Homeschooling the Davis Program
 Definition of “on”. Above and supported by. The hat is on her head.
Of all nature’s gifts to the humanrace, what is sweeter to a man than hischildren? 
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, write(106-43 BC)

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